The Reason for Climbing the Tower
“Hoo....”
Song Han-su, the chairman of Seongjin Group, let out a deep sigh as he stepped out of the hospital room. His mind was still replaying what had just happened.
—I can't eat chicken?
Why not...?
I hate white porridge. Do I have to eat white porridge again?
Anything but white porridge, even if it's not chicken....
His granddaughter had whined like that before finally bursting into tears and pulling the blanket over her head. Watching her, Song felt his heart tear apart.
Just a short while ago, the doctors had told him she might never wake up again in that very room. She'd collapsed suddenly and been rushed to the ER, taking a full week to regain consciousness. He couldn't even promise her that she'd get to eat chicken someday if things improved. He remembered all too well how she'd plunged into despair upon learning the truth after he'd once lied out of kindness, saying she'd get better eventually.
Thinking of the shock it would cause if she found out the truth later from another white lie, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Poor Ha-yeon.
His precious granddaughter had brought life to their rigid chaebol family. But she'd been frail since childhood, plagued by constant minor illnesses. She couldn't dream of going out, let alone attend school properly. Sudden drops in her condition, like this time, happened all too often.
Thanks to that, she spent every day confined to a hospital bed. Song admired her resilience for enduring it all, but pitied her endlessly. She couldn't run and play outside. She couldn't even eat what she wanted.
“To even say she wanted to die.”
How desperate must that child have been to utter something so horrific? Having lost her parents young, he'd even established a medical foundation at the group level for his sickly granddaughter. But all his efforts were in vain; she only grew sicker with each passing day.
To Song Han-su, it was an endless nightmare.
As he sighed heavily like that, there came a knock at his office door.
Knock knock.
“...Come in.”
“Chairman.”
“What is it, Professor Park?”
It was Park Min-su, Ha-yeon's primary physician. He must be here to talk about her. That was the only topic between them.
“I have something to discuss.”
“....”
Is her condition worsening, so we need to increase the dosage? Lately, everything out of Professor Park's mouth had been grim.
Song waited tensely for his next words.
“You know about the Tower, don't you, Chairman?”
But what came from Professor Park's lips shattered his expectations in an instant.
“The Tower? You mean the one climbers ascend?”
“Yes. That Tower.”
About ten years ago, Towers had begun appearing all over the world. There was no way Song, whose Seongjin Group had dipped its toes into Tower-related business, wouldn't know.
But why bring up the Tower so suddenly?
Song eyed Professor Park with that question in his gaze.
“Take a look at this first.”
Professor Park pulled a tablet from his pocket and played a video. It was a sort of medical record. A patient wracked by an incurable disease, barely able to control their body, gradually improved until they were fully cured.
“What in the world....”
Song gasped at the sight of someone who couldn't even walk properly a year ago now bounding about energetically. He'd studied medicine as deeply as any doctor in hopes of helping Ha-yeon, so he knew just how impossible this was.
“No way.”
“...Yes, Chairman.”
Professor Park took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, and continued.
“We need to send Miss Ha-yeon into the Tower.”
“...Good lord.”
Confirming his worst fears, Song squeezed his eyes shut.
“It's been a topic in the medical community for a few years now. Getting consent from patients with incurable or terminal illnesses and sending them into the Tower.”
Overcome the trials the Tower imposes, climb its floors, and climbers receive commensurate rewards. Superhuman physical abilities, and immense wealth to boot.
But Song gave a negative reply.
“The Tower... isn't it too dangerous?”
The Tower was a perilous place. Even now, with the Tower industry developed and systems in place, it remained an unknown realm. Deaths occurred every month.
What had the early days been like, when the Towers first appeared? Countless more had perished then.
Recalling that brutal history, Song shook his head.
Professor Park responded firmly.
“But there's no other way, Chairman. You know it. Miss Ha-yeon... she has two years at most.”
Frankly, this decision bruised Professor Park's pride too. As a doctor, admitting he had no more treatments and relying on some inscrutable external force.
But if there was even a sliver of possibility, they had to try.
Song Ha-yeon wasn't just any patient to him. He'd cared for her for nearly ten years since she was little. If he sent her off without trying, he'd regret it forever.
“I'm sorry for being an inadequate doctor, Chairman. But—”
“....”
“This is the last resort.”
Perhaps feeling the sincerity in Professor Park's words, Song gave a somewhat milder response.
“I'll ask Ha-yeon and decide.”
Above all, the decision of the person involved mattered most.
---
“Y-Yes! I want to! I'll climb the Tower!”
“....”
Ha-yeon's immediate reply made Song second-guess his choice.
*
“This isn't a decision to make so lightly.”
Song pressed his temples as he spoke. His complexion looked worse than when they'd first met, as if he'd aged even more mysteriously.
I got it, though. I'd heard the full explanation from Professor Park too.
What I could gain from the Tower, and the dangers it held. If luck was on my side, I'd get a healthy body and escape this hospital life forever. If not, I could lose my life.
After hearing it all, the choice was obvious.
“It's not a snap decision.”
I met his eyes squarely, without looking away.
“Things are risky as they are anyway. You can try to hide it, but I know everything.”
“Ha-yeon....”
“If I'm going to die sitting still, better to at least try.”
Terminal even after reincarnating. The shock when I first learned still lingers vividly.
Still, Jeong Ha-yeon was luckier than most. Unlike me, waiting only for death after my diagnosis, I at least got one chance to choose.
While others endured chemo, clinical trials, dialysis, I'd head to the Tower. The method differed, but it was still fighting illness.
I had no intention of dying helplessly without resistance.
I wouldn't run away.
“Please let me go.”
The words were short, but the resolve clear. No hesitation, no wavering.
Song Han-su looked at me with wide, surprised eyes. In that gaze mixed bewilderment, fear, and pride he couldn't quite hide.
Silence fell for a moment.
“...I really can't talk you out of it.”
Who does she take after?
My grandfather, who'd been trying to dissuade me, fell quiet before murmuring softly.
“This old man will cheer you on with all he's got.”
*
Until now, Ha-yeon had been no different from patients just waiting to die in their beds. But not anymore.
How stifling it must have been, cooped up in the hospital when she should be making friends and experiencing the world at her age.
Song's eyes welled with tears as he gazed at his granddaughter.
“Chicken! Pizza! Seolleongtang! Jeyuk! Tteokbokki! Mala tang! Burgers!”
“....”
Actually, maybe it wasn't about being stuck in the hospital—maybe she just wanted tasty food. Song pondered seriously for a moment.
“Are you ready, Miss Ha-yeon?”
“Yep!”
Standing before the Tower entrance, Ha-yeon answered briskly.
Before her loomed a colossal structure impossible to believe was man-made. The Tower's outer walls stretched straight toward the heavens, faintly glowing, with enigmatic runes drifting across the surface like flowing water.
Around it waited Professor Park and numerous medical staff and officials. To monitor for any anomalies in Ha-yeon's body during entry, or excessive reactions right after contracting. Preparation for the worst.
“No need to be too tense.”
Professor Park continued gently.
“The initial area is relatively safe. Minimal physical strain too.”
“No! I'm not tense at all!”
She said that, but.
Her fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Seeing it, Professor Park chuckled.
“Your face is all warrior already, but your body's honest.”
He then relayed a few precautions. That her real body stayed connected inside the Tower. Fatal injuries would automatically void the contract. Inhabitants had 'markers' floating above their heads to distinguish them. Once accustomed to the Tower's environment, her activities there might aid recovery and rehab in reality.
But that was still far off.
Wrapping up, Professor Park looked at Ha-yeon.
“I've gone on too long. Really, there's just one key thing.”
He smiled.
“Come back alive. And get what you want.”
Ha-yeon's eyes sparkled.
“Yes!”
Then, a familiar voice from behind.
“Ha-yeon.”
It was Song Han-su. His face brimmed with worry, unspoken.
“I'll be back!”
Ha-yeon grinned brightly.
“Real soon!”
“Alright... Be careful. Don't push yourself.”
With those words, the light at the Tower's entrance intensified.